Islamists Emerge as Real Winners in Bangladesh Elections

• The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won the 2026 elections, but Jamaat-e-Islami is seen as the true victor, gaining significant political and structural support.
• Jamaat-e-Islami, once banned for its 1971 war crimes, has regained legality, political centrality, and international engagement after the interim administration lifted its ban.
• The rise of Jamaat occurs within an Islamist ecosystem, with the more hardline Hefazat-e-Islam as its principal street rival, whose growth was indirectly fostered by Sheikh Hasina's past tactical bargains.
• Jamaat has achieved legal-constitutional, political, and social legitimacy, with its candidates on ballots, other parties treating it as a negotiating partner, and voters seeing it as a mainstream Islamic political vehicle.
• Foreign diplomats and international actors now engage with Jamaat leaders, recognizing them as pivotal interlocutors, despite warnings from critics like Taslima Nasreen about the threat to Bangladesh's secular compact.